Sewing-machine.



H. BRIGGS.

SEWING- MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 20, 1903.

1,030,867. I Patented July 2, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. BRIGGS.

SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN? 20, 1903.

Patented July 2, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- H. BRIGGS. SEWING MACHINE. APPLICIATIOIY FIILED JAN. 20, 1903.

Patented" July 2, 1912. v

' a SHEETS-SHEET sarticular-1y UNITED s Arrns PEFENT orr on.

HENRY BRIGGS, OF HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNELAS-SIGNMENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY ACORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SEWING-MACI'IINE.

, Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed January 20, 1903.Serial No. 139,844.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it' known that I, HENRY BRIGGS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hasbrouck Heights, in the county of Beren and State of New Jerse have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSewing-Machines, and I do hereby declare the following to be a Hill;clear, and exact description of the "invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The present invent-ion relates to an im- Zrovement in sewing machinesand more to chain stitch, sewing mahi-nes of the curved hook needle waxthread type of which the'com --In the patent granted to the present applicantOctober 15, 1901, No. 684,538,there disclosed a sewing machine ofthis type in which the takeup acts to set the stitch, with a yielding,and gradually increasing force, while the tightening of the stitch is"performed in substantially thesame manner as in the machines of theprior art, such, for example, as in the Well-known Goodyear welt andturn machines. In this connection it may be stated that the termstighten the stitch andset the stitch "as used in this specificationrefer respectively to the taking of slack out of the thread which hasbeen drawn through the materials to form the stitch, and to the drawingof the con I catenation of thread which forms the stitch into theposition which it assumes iii-the finished seam. .In said Goodyearsewing machine the stitchis set by a take-up which exerts an unyieldinginward strain on the thread, that is in the direction toward the medianline of the shoe, and by making the take-up act yieldingly and withgradually increasing force the advantages set forth in needle, that isin the direction -said patent were obtained. In the-machine of saidpatent, however, as well as in the said Goodyear machine, the stitchtightening strain was exerted outwardly by the outward from the medianline of the shoe and such strain was exerted with a sudden twitch'orjerk which when such strain is excessive is liable to cut or tear thebetween substance or so injure it as to impair the strength orappearance of the shoe. v strain washable to tray or break the threadMoreover, such mercial welt and turn at the needle hook when the slackhad been taken out of the previous loop standing around the thread justdrawn through by the needle (which slack exists because of thedifi'erence in size between the needle, against which the thread hadpreviously been drawn taut by the take-up, and the strands of threadjust drawn through such loop by the 1ieedle)'and especially if suchstrain-was brought upon the thread with 'a sudden twitchor jerk. This isinpart due to the resistance of the thread to rendering in the book ofthe needle, because of the,

pressure which has been exerted by the ma terials upon the thread in theneedle hook during its passage through them, and 1n part due to thetension upon the thread which, int-he Goodyear machine, is the fulltension strain WhlCh'lS necessary in settlng the stitch but which is'not required in tightening the stitch as a comparatively small tensionis required for this purpose. But

Patented July .2, 19 12.

where, as in said Goodyear machine, the pullofi movement of the take-upis necessarily made less than the'average amount consumed in each stitchin order to compensate for variations of thickness of the materialsbeing sewed, itis necessary for the needle at the latter part of itsretracting. T

stroke and after it has tightened vthe' pre ceding stitch to pull ofi aslight compensatory amount of thread which causes the thread to reeve toa slight degree under tension in the hook of the needle. It is desir--able therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art, toreduce the outward strain to a minimum, because of the cutting action ofthe thread on the materials, and

-to reduce the reeving of the thread in the hook of the needle to aminimum in order to avoid as far as possible the injurious action of theneedle on thethread.

I It has been found by the applcant that the outward strain and thereeving of the thread are susceptible of'being reduced by yieldinglycontrolling the needle" or other,

stitch tightening inst-rumentality during the latter part of the loopdrawing stroke of the needle. During the forward anorement of the needleand during the first portion of itsretracting movement it is preferablethat the needle should be positively actuated, because, among otherreasons, of the necessity for timing its unovements at this 55 lines in7. connecting link 5, there -is providedqa protime accurately withrelation to the movements of other stitch forming instrumen talities. Iv j The object of the present invention is to produce a sewing machineof the curvedbo'died yielding means on the needle side of the workacting during the tightening of the stitch to exert a yielding strain onthe thread to reduce the sudden outward strain above described to aminimum and to relieve as far as practicable the between substance andthe thread therefrom.

Other objects of the invention are to reorganize and improve sewingmachines of this class by combining the yielding take-up withtheyielding action of the stitch tightening devices and to improve themachine in other respects hereinafter pointed out.

' To theabove ends the present invention consists in the devices andcombinations of devices hereinafter described and particularly definedin the claims.

Figure 1 is'a front elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a side elevationlooking from the'left hand side of. Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation;Fig. 4 isan enlarged detailof a portion of the thread finger actuatingmechanism; Fig. 5 is a development 30 of the cam for the thread finger;Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the take-up and its actuating'mechanisms;and Fig. 7 isia side elevation illustrating the cooperating rela tionsof. the needle and take-upj and of the actuating mechanisms at differentpositions during their operation.

The-needle N is the usual curved hook needle supported in the usualneedle segment 1, and actuated by the needle lever 2,

which carries a cam roll 3, which runs in a cam groove in the side ofthe cam disk 4:. The needle segment is connected to, the

needle lever by means of a connecting link 5, which is pivotallyattached to the needle segment at one end and yieldingly connected tothe needle lever 2, at; the other end, said link being provided with aslot t3, which rev ceives a'pin 7', secured in'the-front end of .theneedle lever 2. A spring 8', secured to the needle lever 2, by means ofthe bolt 9,

is provided at its front end with an adjustingscrew 10, which engagesthe lower end of the connecting link 5, and normally tends to hold it inthe ositien illustrated in full pon the rear side of the ]ection 11,which is adapted to engage a' coiiperating rojection 12, on the side ofthe front end 0 the needlelever 2. The projection 11, is in engagementwith projection 12, during the first part of the retracting movement ofthe needle but separated therefrom during the-latter part. of theretracting stroke of the needle operating in a mat-ffnenabout to bedescribed. The above-deneedle chain-stitch class in which are em-.

the spring '8.

is positively actuated to force it" through the materials and duringthefirst part of the retracting stroke of the needle, the projection '11of the link 5 being in contact w ith the projection 12 of the needlelever 2, the needle is positively actuated during the first part of itsretracting movement; but after the needlehas withdrawn far enough toremove its hook from the embrace of the materials the projectionsseparateand the further rearward movement of the needle is yieldinglycontrolled under the infiuenceof Thus during the time the needle isovercoming the resistance of penetrating materials and during the timethe needle is drawing the, loop of thread through the materials it-ispositively controlled but during the latter part of its retractingstroke it is yieldingly controlled so that the rearward motion of theneedle may cease before the-needle lever 2 reaches the limit of itsmotion tending to withdraw the needle, so that during the last part ofthe retracting stroke of the needle it exerts anuninterruptedly yieldingpull upon the thread.

thereby tightening the stitch under yielding pressure. I

To insure a sufiicient retraction of the needle to avoid interferencewith the welt 7 is designed to engage the upper end of the slot 6 in thelink 5 and thus retract the needle positively in the event that the-loopdrawn back by the needle tends to hold the needle in too low-a position.a

The back gage G, the back rest .R, the looperL, the channel guide C, allare constructed and operate substantially as in said Goodyear machine.The awl A, is mounted. on the awl lever 13,'which is supported in theusual manner upon the feed slide 14; The means of actuating the awl tomake its work-feeding stroke are substantially the same as in saidGoodyear machine and the means for actuating the awl to make itswork-piercing stroke are also substantially the same as in said Goodyearmachine, except in the respect that the bell crank lever 15, whichactuates the awl lever is mounted upon a sleeve, which carries thetake-up lever as hereinafter described. I

The threadfinger F, is mounted upon a shank l6, whiil h is supported inthe bearing in the frame d f the machine so that it oscillates andreciprocates therein. Upon the upper-end of the shank 16 is mounted apinion 17, and a cam 18, which are secured to said shank 16. y Thepinion 17, is engaged by a segmental gear 19, which is pivoted upon thestud 20, andoperated by means of the link 21, from the bent lever 22,pivoted at 23 upon the frame of the machine, which bent lever carriesupon lts upper end a cam guide and to provide a sufiicient length of'loop to reach to the next needle hole, the pin roll, which engages acam groove in the side of the cam disk 24;. The thread finger cam 18, isengaged by a spring finger 25, which is supported upon the frame of themachine and normally acted upon by the spring 26, which tends to movethe free end of the finger 25 downward. The spring 27 which is supportedbetween the said cam 18 and a projection 28 upon the frame of themachine acts upon the upper side of the cam 18 and tends to hold theshank of the thread finger in its lowermost position. The abovedescribedarrangement and the shape of the cam paths are such that when the threadfinger is thrown forward to engage and draw out its bight of thread, thespring finger passes through the upper part of the cam groove from leftto right until it reaches the point 29, at which spring 26 forces thefinger 25 downward through the vertical'port-ion of the cam groove tothe position 30; then as the thread finger is rotated in the oppositedirection the finger 25 having reached the limit of its downwardincrement, engages the inclined portion of the am groove and therebylifts the 'cam and with it the shank 16 of the thread fin- I get"compresses the spring 27,thus as the thread fin er is moved forward togive up its thread to the needle it is-lifted. This action continuesuntil the end of the finger 25 reaches the position 31 in the cam path,whereupon the compressed spring 27 forces the cam 18, and with itthethread finger shank l6 downward thereby caus ng the end of the finger 25to occupy a p1 $sit1on1n the cam path indicated at 32. ghe: operationsabove described are repeated for eachst tch. The tension indicated in ageneral Way by the reference-letter T consists of a thread truck 33,mounted upon a stud 34 the rearof the frame of the machine iniositren.to receive the thread asit. passesup rem the wax pot. A brake-shoe 35carried. in the lower end of a brake lever 36 1s arrangedto engage thegroove in. the thread truck 33, and a spring 37 normally tendsto holdthe brake-shoe 35 in engagement with the sun face of the thread truck.Adjusting means are provided for regulating the pressure of thebrake-shoe upon the thread truck The forward end ofthe brake lever 36 isprovided with a cam roll, which engages a cam surface on the cam disk24. The above described arrangement and the shape of the l- IIsurfaceare such that 1nter1 n1tt1ngly during the operation of formingeach stitch the brake-shoe is raised so as to relieve the tension on thethread.

The" take-up indicated in a general way by the reference letter U,consists of a :a-itljjalstably secured to the arm 40, .pivotallyanounted'*upon stud 4,1, secured on a stav tionary part of the machine.is adapted to yield during the operation of the take-up so as to causeits action to be exerted upon the thread with elastic pressure, therebycushioning the take-up action. The arm 40 is secured to a sleeve 43,which embraces the stud or pin 41, and passes through the hole in'theawl 'bellcrank lever 15, thereby affording a convenient support for saidbell-crank lever. Upon the opposite end of the sleeve 43 is securedthe'arm 4.4 which is slotted at its lower end at 45 to receive a pin 46in the end of the link 47, which connects said arm 4a with the cam lever48 pivoted at 4:9 upon the frame of the machine. Intermediate its endsthe lever 48 carriesa cam roll which engages a cam path in the side ofthe cam disk 50. The abovedescribed arrangement is such that after theneedle has penetrated the material, the take up is moved to exert anuninterrupted yielding and gradually increasing strain upon the threadin order to set the stitch of which the loop around the needle forms apart.

The forms of the various cams which actuate the several partsofthe'machine are not illustrated in the drawings as from thedescription of the construction, organization and mode of operation ofthe machine such cams could be laid out by any machine designerfamiliarwith the designing of shoe sewing machines. v

\ In general the operation ofthe machine is similar to the operation of.the machine of .my said patent, except where its operation is similar tothe operation of the parts of the said Goodyear machine as hereinstated. The action of the take-up is similar in all substantial respectsto the action of the "take-up in the machine of my said patent. Theneedle, however, is different in operation from the needle of-t-heGoodyear machine in this, that while-the needle is' makiiing itsretracting stroke it is controlled by the spring 8, so that the stitchtightening ,pdulll upon the thread instead of being rigy ftherehyrelieving the thread and between 1 substance ofthe sudden twitch or-jerkwhich occurs in said Goodyear machine. hVhenthe needle lever-2 isdepressed to advance the needle, the pin 7 engages the lower end of theneedle the projection 11- will be in engagement with projection 12 andthe needle -will be positively drawn back through the stock but duringthe last part thread truck 38, revolubly mounted upon of the retractingstroke of the needle it will {we iena of the n parm r spring 39, 022under the control of the spring 8 and operated to act yieldingly uponthe thread.

It is considered thatthe feature of yieldof the slot 6 in the link 5 andthe needle will The spring 39 applied thereto is,yi.eldingly applied,

- ingly controlling'the needle during the last part of its retractingstroke is advantageous "creased and the amount of thread in theformation of each stitch is still' further increased. By this means theexcessive strain of theneedle upon the thread during the sewing aroundthe toe is avoided-and'at this time theneedle instead of retreating itsfull stroke may retreat only so much thereof as is necessary.

iVhile the invention is described as embodied in "a machine employing ayielding take-up it is to be understoodthat the invention, so far-as thefeature thereof relating to the yielding control of the needle iscohcerned, may be embodied in a machine in which the take-up ispositively actuated throughout its entire stroke, although it isconsidered that in order to obtain the best results frommy invention itis desirable to employ this feature thereof in connection timyielding'take-upf While itds believed that this feature of the presentinvention can be used to the best advantage and will yield the bestresults when .it is embodied in a machine in which the stitch istightened by the needle and set by the i take-up, such'for example asthe Goodyear machine or the machine of said patent, this feature of theinvention is not limited to an einbodimenet in such machine as it isapplicable to machines not employing a take up and to machines. in whichthe stitch is tightened by some other instrumentality than the needle.-I

Having thusfldescribed my inventioml claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent :w 1

1. A chain-stitch shoe sewing machine, having, in combination, a looper,a curved hook needle, a spring acting during the tightening of thestitch-to exert a yielding strainon the thread on the needle side ofthewo-rk, a stitch setting take-up and a spring on the supply of thework which determines the tightness to which the stitch is set,substantially as described.

2. A chain-stitch shoe sewing machine, having, in combination, a looper,a curved hook needle, a spring acting during the tightening of thestitch to exert a yielding strain on the thread on the needle side ofthe work and a yielding-take-np, substantially as described.

3. A chain-stitch shoe sewing machine, having, in combination, a looper,a curved hook needle, actuating mechanism for the needle including aspring which determines the tightness to which the stitch is tightened,a yielding take-up, and an intermittently acting tension, substantiallyas described.

4. A chain-stitch shoe sewing machine,

needle segment 1', the link-5 having the projection 11, the needle lever2 having the projection 12, and the spring 8.

6. 'A chain stitch sewing machine, having,

'in combination, a looper, a hook needle, and

actuating mechanism for the needle h aving provision for positivelyactuatingit during the first portion of its loop-drawing stroke, andyielding'ly during the latter portion of its loop-drawing stroke.

7. A chain stitch shoe sewing machine, having, ingcombination, a looper,a take-up,

-a curved hook needle, and actuating mechanlsm for, the needle havingplOVlSlOD. for positively actuating 1t during the first portion of itsloop-drawing stroke, and yieldingly during the latter portion of itsloopdrawing stroke.

. 8. A chain stitch sewing machine, having,

in combination, a looper, a hook needle and actuatmg mechanism for theneedle, mclud ing means for positively actuating it during the firstpart of its loopdrawing stroke,

means for yieldingly actuating it during the latter part-ofitsloop-drawing stroke, and positive means for actuating the needle duringthe latter part of its loop drawing stroke acting only in case offailure of the yielding means to secure a predetermined minimum lengthof loop.

9. A chain stitch sewing machine, having, in combination, a looper,a'hook needle, ac-

tuating mechanism for, the needle having provision for positivelyactuating it during the first portion of its loop dr u ing stroke,

andyieldingly during the latter-portion of.

itsloop-drawing stroke, and means inclependent of the needle for settingthe stitch.

10. A chain stitch sewing, machine, having, in combination, a looper, acurved hook needle, and actuatmg mechanism for the needle havingprovision for positively actuating it during the first portion of itsloop drawing stroke, and yieldingly during the latter portion of itsloop drawingz'stroke.

11. A chain stitch sewing machine, having, in combination, a looper,/ahook needle and actuating mechanism for theneedle including a linkhaving a,,projcction, and a cam lever having a cam surface arranged toengage said projection to positively actuate the needle during a portiononly of its loop drawing stroke and incans'for yieldingly aetuating theneedle during a portion of its stroke.

12. A chain stitch sewing machine-,dmv-

illg,

in combination, sewing instrumeniaiities including a hookneedle, andactuating mechanism for the needle operating in the normal operation ofthe machine to move the needle positively during'a part of its loopdrawing stroke and yieldingly during another portion of said stroke.

13. A chain stitch sewing machine, having, in combination,inst-rumentalities including a hook-needle, and actuating mechanism forthe needle having provision for moving the needle positively through adistance sufficient to secure a predetermined minimum length of loop,and for yieldingly moving it through an additional distance.

14;. A chain stitch sewing machine, having, in combination, sewinginstrumentalities including a hook needle, and mechanism for actuatingthe needle including connections arranged to positively retract and thenrelease the needle and a spring to sustain tions.

15."A chain stitch "shoe sewing machine having in combination, a needlesegment with a needle thereon, a link with a projection thereonconnecting the needle segment with a. lever, a lever having a projectionthereon and engaging the projection on the link during aportion of theloop drawing stroke of the needle and a spring operatively connectingthe lever and link after the disconnection of the projections and duringthe latter portion of the loop drawing stroke of the needle.

In testimony whereof I affix my signa ture, in presence of twoWitnesses.

HENRY BRIGGS.

'Witnessesz, I HORACE VAN EVEREN, FRED 0. FISH.

qopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

